A Successful Calamity

A Successful Calamity

72 mins | Drama, Comedy | Sept. 17, 1932

Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children, Peggy and Eddie. To test his family's mettle, Henry pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father's side and change their ways: Peggy forsakes the fortune hunter George Struthers for the nice young man she's really in love with, the polo coach Larry Rivers, while Eddie applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Sweetie seems to desert Henry.

A Successful Calamity

72 mins | Drama, Comedy | Sept. 17, 1932

A Successful Calamity
Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children, Peggy and Eddie. To test his family's mettle, Henry pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father's side and change their ways: Peggy forsakes the fortune hunter George Struthers for the nice young man she's really in love with, the polo coach Larry Rivers, while Eddie applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Sweetie seems to desert Henry.
IMDb rating 6.9
Producers Warner Bros. Pictures, The Vitaphone Corporation
Original title A Successful Calamity
Directors John G. Adolfi
Writers Clare Kummer, Maude T. Howell, Austin Parker, Julien Josephson

Cast

George Arliss

as Henry Wilton

Mary Astor

as Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton

Evalyn Knapp

as Peggy Wilton

Grant Mitchell

as Connors

William Janney

as Eddie Wilton

David Torrence

as Partington

Hardie Albright

as George Struthers

Randolph Scott

as Larry Rivers

Hale Hamilton

as John Belde

Fortunio Bonanova

as Pietro Rafaelo

Oscar Apfel

as President of the United States

Leon Ames

as Barney Davis

Elspeth Dudgeon

as Musicale Guest (uncredited)

Allan Lane

as Polo Player (uncredited)

Claire McDowell

as Struthers' Secretary (uncredited)

Murray Kinnell

as Alfred Curtis - The Broker

Harold Minjir

as Watson - Eddie's Valet (as Harold Minjur)

Barbara Leonard

as Pauline - The French Maid

Eula Guy

as Jane - the Cook's Helper

Virginia Hammond

as Mrs. Langstreet

Richard Tucker

as Lawrence - Partington's Partner

Charles Coleman

as Emmy's Musicale Butler

Jack Rutherford

as Wilton's Chauffeur (as John Rutherford)

Helena Phillips Evans

as Lily - the Wilton's Cook (as Helena Phillips)

Bill Elliott

as Polo Player (uncredited)

Charles E. Evans

as Furniture Mover (uncredited)

Lew Harvey

as Photographer at Train (uncredited)

Fred Howard

as Reporter at Train (uncredited)

Lillian Lawrence

as Musicale Guest (uncredited)

Kate Drain Lawson

as Musicale Guest (uncredited)

Nola Luxford

as Mary (uncredited)

Buddy Roosevelt

as Polo Player With Drinks (uncredited)

Ellinor Vanderveer

as Musicale Guest (uncredited)

Florence Wix

as Musicale Guest (uncredited)